Child&#39;s carriage.



No. 674,349. Patented May I4, l90l.

A. WOUDWARD.

GHILDS CARRIAGE.

(Application filed. July 11, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shunt l.

finessea XW' No. 674,349. Patented May l4, [90L AJWUOD WARD.

CHILDS CARRIIAGE.

(Application filed July 11, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABNER WOODWARD, OF SHELBURNE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHILDS CARRIAGE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 674,349, dated May 14, 1901.

Application filed July 11,1900. Serial No. 23,272. on model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ABNER WOODWARD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Shelbnrne Falls, in the county of Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Carriages for Children, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to carriages of the class shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States issued to me and nu mbered and dated as follows: 407,916, July 30, 1889; 510,461, December 12, 1893, and 564,678, July 28, 1896. In perfecting the design of carriage therein shown many changes have been found desirable, and many improvements have been made which greatly simplify the construction and decrease to cost of production.

My invention will be more particularly described and set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the drawings forming a part thereof.

Figure l is a'view in perspective of my carriage. Fig. 2 is a detail View of the means employed for tying the frame to the axles. Fig. 3 is a view of the coupling-plates which connect the members of the supporting-frame and adjustably hold the hooks from which the carriage-body is suspended. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of the handle and supporting means. Fig. 6 is a View of my invention adapted to a go-cart. Fig. 7 is a detail view of the braces and clips for the supportingframe.

My invention is confined to a supportingframe for the body of the carriage, and the running-gear to which this frame is attached may be any ordinary one in common use, or the frame may be attached to a sled, and the term running-gear when used in the claims is intended to include anything to. which the frame is attached and by which it is carried. I have shown in the drawings a common form of running-gear having the axles A B and the wheels 0. b. On this running-gear is fastened a frame composed of a plurality of rods G D,

arranged side by side thereon and having.

their ends upturned, as at c d e f. This frame is held on the axle against movement toward or away from the wheels by the clips E. (Shown in detail in Fig. 2.) These clips have the frame, both at the front and back, are

united by the coupling-plates G, which are preferably castings made in two parts, each part being grooved to partly encircle the rods and having a central groove to receive and hold adjustably the hooks on which the body is suspended, as shown in Fig. 3. These plates are held together to clamp the rods by means of bolts, screws, or some similar device. It is essential that the upturned ends 0 d e f of the frame be braced in some way, and heretofore I have accomplished this object by extending these ends over the top of the carriage and fastening them together in some way, as shown in my earlier patents. This construction also required some means for holding the frame to the running-gear against lengthwise movement with respect thereto, and for this purpose I used a clamp, which was arranged to be bolted around and underneath the axle. This was never an entirely satisfactory construction, as the bolts were very liable to be loosened and allow the supporting-frame to move forward and backward on the running-gear. By my present invention I have avoided these difficulties in the following manner: I make use of rods ij is Z, which are attached at one nd to the upturned ends 0 d efof the frame and are fastened at their other ends to the axle, preferably by the same bolt that fastens the clips E thereto. These rods effectually prevent any movement of the frame in the direction lengthwise of the carriage and furnish a rigid support to the upturned ends of the frame. This design of frame is of much better appearance than any of the former ones, greatly reduces the amount of material used, and insures a more rigid construction.

The handle M of the carriage is supported by the arms at n, which are formed into sockets 0 at their inner ends, which loosely fit the rods 0 d e f and are provided with set-screws 10 or devices of a similar nature for adjustably securing them thereto. At the outer ends of the arms are formed grooves 'r to receive the ends of the handle, and clamps s are provided to hold the handle firmly on the arms m n. This construction permits of adjusting the handle at any desired position on the frame-rods and also using it either at the front or back of the carriage.

A carriage-body is provided with straps at each end, by which it is suspended from the hooks to 4;, carried by the coupling-plates G.

It is evidentthat any form of carriage-body, either the ordinary shapes or any of the special designs, such'as that known as a gocart, can be used in connection with my invention, the supporting-frame being bent to the shape necessary to accommodate the shape of body used. Fig. 6 shows clearly the shape of frame intended for use with the go-cart bodies. Furthermore, it is clear that my invention can be applied to old carriages of the ordinary type by simply removing the springs and substituting therefor my supportingframe and attaching to the carriage-body the frame.

straps by which it may be suspended from An additional value of my invention resides in the fact that the present method of attaching the frame to the axles permits of its being readily detached there from and attached to a sled or some such vehicle with much more ease and despatch than has heretofore been the case.

Having now described the nature of my inveniion, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination in a childs carriage with the running-gear, of a U-shaped frame positioned thereon, means for holding said frame against sidewise movement and braces extending from the axle to the upturned ends of the frame, substantially as described.

2. In a childs carriage the combination with the running-gear, of a frame positioned thereon, said frame being made up of rods extending between the axles and having their ends upturned, clips secured to the axle and partly encircling the rods to prevent their sidewise movement, coupling-plates uniting the frame members and rods extending from the axle to the upturned ends of the frame to act as braces therefor.

3. In a childs carriage the combination with the running-gear, of a frame positioned thereon and adapted to support either an ordinary carriage-body or a go-cart, said frame being made upof rods extending between the axles and having their ends upturned a suitable amount for the purposes specified, clips engaging the frame-rods and secured to the axle and braces attached at one end to the axle and supporting the upturned ends of the frame.

A supporting-frame for a carriage-body comprising a plurality of upright members arranged at the front and rear of a carriagebody, connections uniting the lower ends of the upright members at the front of the body With the corresponding part of those at the rear of the body, couplings uniting the upright members at each end of the body near their tops, supporting devices for the body carried by the couplings, and braces for the upright members arranged below the coup lings.

5. In a childs carriage the combination with the running-gear, a supporting-frame mounted thereon made up of rods bent to shape, and coupling-plates uniting the free ends of the rods,of arms adj ustably secured to said rods and provided at their outer ends with means for receiving and holding a handle.

6. In a childs carriage a supporting-frail]e for the body made up of a plurality of rods bent to shape and arranged side by side on the running-gear, coupling-plates n niting the free ends of the frame-rods and adjustably holding the hooks from which the body is suspended, clips for preventing the sidewise movement of the frame, braces for the upturned ends of the frame and means common to the clips and the braces for attaching them to the axle.

7. In a childs carriage a supporting-frame for the body made up of a plurality of rods bent to shape and extending between the axles, coupling-plates uniting the free ends of the frame-rods and adj ustably holding the hooks from which the body is suspended, clips for preventing the sidewise movement of the frame and rods extending from the axle to the upturned ends of the frame, whereby said rods prevent lengthwise movement of the frame with respect to the running-gear and also act as braces for the upturned ends of the frame, substantially as described.

8. In a carriage in combination with a supporting-frame for the body of arms adjustably secured thereto having grooves at their outer ends to receive a handle, and grooved clamps cooperating with the grooved ends of the arms to firmly secure the handle in place.

9. The combination in a childs carriage with the running-gear, the body, and a supporting-frame therefor made up of upright end members of suitable length, of connections between the upright members at the front and rear of the body near their lower ends and braces for said upright members attached at one end to the running-gear frame.

Signed this 2d day of July, 1900, at New Britain, Connecticut.

ABNER WOODIVARD. 

